Chapter 133: 133 – Investigations And Very Bad Magic

The captured guard burst out laughing. "Worthy of Jaren and Dora's daughter, indeed," he said. "Well spotted, little princess – I did miss out on those things you mentioned just now. But what are you going to do about it now? The dress is gone, and now it's being worn by a lowly maid who couldn't even afford a single thread of it by herself – even if you are able to track down the dress and take it back – do you think your dear sister in law here would be able to wear a soiled dress worn by a lowly maid servant to the grand banquet?"

Mana frowned at the man. "Who are you?" she asked. "And why would you do this?"

"Who I am is irrelevant – well, to you at least, little princess of the Emerald Kingdom – but then again, maybe not," the man said, the smile still lingering on his face.

Mana thought that the man had crazy eyes – and he definitely had nefarious intentions. On sheer instinct, Mana moved closer to Bella, her movements protective.

The man simply laughed louder. "How very valiant of you, little princess Mana of the Emerald Kingdom, to try and protect your sister in law like this!" the man mocked. "But what could a little girl like you possibly achieve, no matter how valiant or talented you are? After all, you're still a little child!"

He turned his crazy eyes to Bella and his eyes turned darker and filled with greed, as if he couldn't wait to get out of the net and grab hold of her. Mana moved even closer to Bella.

Bella blinked at the man, seemingly lost in a daze. "Who are you, really?" she murmured. "Why do you look so familiar?"

The man was taken aback by Bella's words and fell silent for a moment. Then he burst out laughing again. "Aren't you going to ask me why I helped a random maid get hold of your dress?" he asked Bella. "Don't you want your precious dress back? Weren't you really looking forward to wearing it tonight and bedazzling that young crown prince from the Emerald Kingdom? Not that he could be any more besotted with you, from what I can see," he taunted.

Bella frowned. "You seem to have a grudge against me – but I don't think I know you," she said. "And to be able to replace an imperial shadow guard like this – you must be very familiar with the imperial palace of the Sapphire Kingdom as well as the workings of our imperial palace – which means that you must be someone who must have lived in the imperial palace for quite a long time," she reasoned out. "And if you lived here for a long time and were so familiar with the imperial palace as well as the imperial shadow guards and the habits of the royal family – then you must be someone very close to my late father."

The man was startled yet again, and fell silent. "Your late father, eh?" he murmured. "What do you even know about your father, young princess Bella?"

"I know that my parents were betrayed by someone they trusted very deeply, and that resulted in my father's death," Bella said flatly. "Are you the one that betrayed my father?" she asked in a cold voice.

The man stared at Bella unblinkingly for a very long time. "You love your father, is it, young princess Bella?" he asked finally, in a very soft voice.

"I don't see how that relates to you or how that could possibly be any of your business," Bella said coldly.

The man burst out laughing. "Just like Carolina, indeed," he murmured. Then he chuckled, his mad eyes roving greedily over Bella again. "But you see, little princess, it really does relate to me – in fact, it relates to me more than you can ever imagine. And that's because I…"

The man's speech was cut short by the door bursting open. Jules and Raven walked in, followed by King Jaren and Queen Carolina. Azar was perched on King Jaren's shoulder as usual.

Shadow Nineteen bowed immediately. "My Queen," he said to Queen Carolina, and then bowed Jules and said, "My Prince."

"At ease," Queen Carolina said. Then she spotted the captured man and froze in shock.

The man grinned at her like a maniac. "Hello, my dear Carolina – long time no see, but I can tell that you have been doing rather splendidly in the years that I haven't been around!" he said in a singsong voice which sent goosebumps up everyone's arms.

"Bad magic, Grandpapa," Azar murmured in King Jaren's ear. "Very bad magic. So bad that Azar can't eat."

King Jaren patted the little dragon's head to calm his frayed nerves.

Raven, who was next to King Jaren and Azar, heard their baby dragon's words and his eyes widened in shock. If Azar said that the magic was so bad that even the little dragon, who could even eat up the most malicious of arrays like they were popsicles – if that little dragon was telling them that the magic at work here was so bad that even he couldn't eat it, then…

An idea began to form in Raven's head, but he was reluctant to think along those lines. Because if that were to be true, then the enemy they were dealing with was much bigger and much beyond what King Orion or the Moon Temple could manage…

And that would be really, really frightening for them – and it would be that much more dangerous for them, too.

Raven's instincts told him that his biggest fear right now was probably about to come true, though, despite him wishing for it desperately to be otherwise.

Queen Carolina was still in a daze, staring at the captured man in shock.

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"Mother?" Bella asked worriedly.

Jules turned to Mana. "What happened here?" he asked.

Mana quickly explained about the missing dress and what they had found so far during their investigations, and what the crazy captured man had told them so far.

Jules pursed his lips in anger, and turned to the man who was still leering at Queen Carolina with a mocking smile.

Jules raked a cold gaze over the man's form and raised an eyebrow. The man's appearance, ghastly as it was, when taken together with Queen Carolina's reaction to him – that could only mean one thing. All the links clicked together in Jules's mind and he sighed, complaining internally that this was the worst possible moment for such a thing to occur.

"Mother?" Jules said, turning to Queen Carolina, who was still completely lost in her own thoughts.

Jules turned to Queen Carolina and gave her an encouraging smile, indicating with his beautiful mismatched eyes that he had understood the situation and that he would be supporting her through it.

Queen Carolina came to her senses when she met Jules's steady and comforting gaze, and Bella's warm and concerned ones.

"Ah, sorry, I zoned out for a moment," she mumbled. "Thank you, my dear children." She patted both Bella and Jules on their shoulders.

Both Bella and Jules let out a sigh of relief and smiled tentatively at Queen Carolina.

"Are you feeling all right, Mother?" Bella asked worriedly.

Queen Carolina smiled at her only daughter. "Yes, my dearest child," she said softly, rubbing Bella's nose with gentle fingers. "Don't worry so much."

The captured man guffawed loudly, drawing their attention again.

"Shadow Nineteen, retreat," Queen Carolina commanded.

Shadow Nineteen hesitated for a moment, clearly wanting to protect his monarch and the royal family.

Queen Carolina smiled slightly. "Shadow Nineteen, report to your Captain and have him fetch the Imperial Supreme Mage. I'm afraid we're dealing with a necromancer here," she said.

Raven's bad premotion had just come true.

"Also, please arrest the involved maids and look for the original Shadow Sixteen," Bella added.

Shadow Nineteen nodded and disappeared immediately.

Queen Carolina turned to the captured man and narrowed her eyes. "What are you?" she asked in a cold voice.

The man laughed. "Don't you already know the answer to that, my dear Carolina?" he asked.

Queen Carolina pressed her lips together in a thin line. "Who resurrected you?" she asked flatly. "And why have you come here?"

The captured man laughed again. "Why, my dear Carolina – you used to not want to let me go out at all, and now you don't want let me in at all? You really do blow hot and cold, don't you? Shouldn't you be happy upon seeing me? Or, perhaps, you fear that when the truth comes out, you will lose out your precious alliance with the Emerald Kingdom?" he mocked.

Queen Carolina raised an eyebrow. "Is that why you came here? To disrupt the alliance of the Sapphire Kingdom and the Emerald Kingdom? To break up the engagement of these two children, Jules and Bella?" she demanded.

The man chuckled.. "What if I said yes? Isn't it fair that Jaren and Dora's son should know what he's getting into by marrying Bella, and whose blood she carries?" he demanded.

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